


Running through the darkest starlit sky

by Andromeda_Collision



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, but it's mainly just them - Freeform, other characters included
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-19 09:22:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17598587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andromeda_Collision/pseuds/Andromeda_Collision
Summary: One day, everything changes. No more daily lunches, no more banter about literature. Now its just quiet pauses and discussing which system to try next.Or, a canon divergence from when Julian's genetic status is discovered and this time Starfleet is not so forgiving.





	1. The beginning of it all

**Author's Note:**

> *FYI I totally think Julian did nothing wrong other than obviously the lying (though that I can understand), but I also believe that Starfleet is much less lenient and progressive than it likes to claim and realistically, they would have assigned a harsh punishment.

Garak sat in his tailor shop, thinking. He couldn’t get any work done, and he couldn’t figure out why. He was distracted, but he didn’t know what distracted him. It was maddening, he had many clients he had to deliver to today, and he couldn’t focus at all. He was annoyed by this, as he was looking forward to delivering some actually decent clothes to an engineering officer who’s off duty clothing always made him wince. He sighed, deciding he should probably get to the bottom of why he couldn’t focus, and then continue making clothes. Before he could figure out how to do this, Commander Dax walked into his shop. She didn’t seem upset, nor happy, so whatever this was it was either a neutral matter, or she was concealing her emotions. No, it was neutral. He could tell when people were lying or concealing, after all, lying was something he did for fun. 

“Garak, Captain Sisko would like to speak with you,” Dax said, authority in her tone. She was clearly on duty, and this was official business, he assumed. Why the Captain didn’t just com him, however, he didn’t understand.  
“Of course, Commander Dax.” Garak didn’t want to argue or ask why she had been sent to get him, he was still a bit distracted, but he would have to fix that if he was going to talk to the Captain. He had to lie a lot to the Captain, if he accidentally revealed anything, he could be arrested for past crimes, even though he had worked for an organisation as “legitimate” as the federations section 31, but those hypocrites wouldn’t see that.

He got up and made his way to Ops. When he got there, he got nods from the crew there, which meant his presence was not unexpected. This surprised him. But the sight that awaited him in the captain's office surprised him even more. He opened the door to loud voices, who stopped abruptly when he entered. He looked around and saw the captain, looking angry and almost betrayed, The Doctor looking vulnerable for some reason, and to complete the odd picture, two older humans who Garak knew to be the Doctor’s parents. He wondered who he should address and whether he should even speak first, but the captain made that decision for him by getting straight to the point. 

“Garak, a situation has arisen. I have a mission for you, though I am under no delusion you will accept it without some form of repayment, so before you lay down your terms, let me lay down the facts of this situation. Doctor Bashir is genetically engineered,” At this, Garak saw the doctor flinch, and he wished he knew how to help him. He knew the human taboo against genetic modifications, and was now very interested in learning more details about this affair. “I am telling you this with Doctor Bashir's reluctant permission, because now that this fact has got to Starfleet, they plan to convict Doctor Bashir of the crime of genetic manipulation, to which the sentence is life. They do not care enough to examine the circumstances surrounding this case, specifically that the doctor was 5 years old and had no choice in the matter.” the captain paused at this, and cast a glare at the doctor's parents. They looked like they wanted to speak, but nothing they could say could change the mood of this room for the better, so they stayed silent (thankfully). 

The captain began talking again. “Garak, I don’t like to go against Starfleet. But I don’t believe the action they are talking about is fair or justified. I believe my only option as a captain is to give the doctor a chance to escape this punishment. That is where you come in. You, in this plan, would take a shuttlecraft from Deep space nine and fly away with the doctor for a safer place. You could return after doing this if you wished too. We would claim you stole the shuttle together, and if you come back since I am the captain here, I could make sure you were not punished for this. Now, first, Doctor, would you like to give this plan a try?”  
Everyone was looking at the doctor now. He looked stumped and trapped. Garak had seen the doctor face down death many times, but never had he seen him this pale.

“Yes.” Suddenly, out of the silence, the doctor spoke. He still looked fearful, but also determined. Garak thought of it as him going into survival mode. He had seen humans and cardassians alike do this many times before. All other thoughts are dismissed, and all you think about is how to survive the longest. After the shock lifted from the room, the captain turned to Garak. “Garak, I believe it is now your time to bargain for a reward or outright refuse?” the captain said coldly. Garak felt something, almost like shame in him. The captain, and everyone in this room assumed the worst of him. Even the doctor. They didn’t know that when he looked at the doctors sad, almost pleading expression, he knew his answer. He hated that the doctor had become his weakness, but he would not react how his father did. He accepted that he had this weakness, and because of what he felt he would never try to destroy it. He looked at the people, and realized he had been there in silence for quite a few seconds now. He prepared himself for their shock and surprise, and took a deep breath.  
“No reward is necessary, captain. I will do it, and stay with him, that is, if the doctor would be ok with that?”

Garak waited for the doctor's response nervously. He hadn’t felt nervous since he was a child, and he didn’t particularly like that the feeling was resurfacing now. He didn’t have to endure this feeling for long, luckily, as the doctor responded quickly.  
“Yes Garak, I would like that.” He looked relieved and Garak felt his heart jump, even though he knew that the doctor was only relieved to have company wherever they ended up.  
“Well, that’s settled then. Doctor, we have to be quick, so you have 1 hour to say your goodbyes to everyone on the station. I am sorry, I hoped that Starfleet would be reasonable, but it seems we have a long way to go before achieving the perfectly equal and fair utopia we often believe we live in.

The doctor nodded, absentmindedly. Garak felt he should go prepare, and give the doctor time to say his goodbyes.  
“If you’ll excuse me, I need to get packing and say a few goodbyes of my own. Doctor, Captain,” He said, as he turned and walked out of the room, leaving the doctor to start his goodbyes.


	2. Garak's goodbye to Ziyal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garak starts off his goodbyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi so I can't really write Ziyal so enjoy my attempt, sorry hopefully next chapter will be with characters I have an easier time writing. Also, I'm not gonna have one goodbye per chapter I'm not that bad I just wanted this one to be separate. The rest will be together (hopefully)

Garak walked back to his shop, in a weird state of shock. It was weird to know he was going to leave his life of five years behind, no matter how little he had enjoyed that life. He wondered, for a moment, why the captain had chosen him for this. Then, slowly, the reasons became obvious. He knew the doctor, he wasn’t Starfleet, so the captain couldn’t be accused of ordering him to do it, and he was a suspected spy (they pretty much know at this point) so he clearly had some skills that would be helpful when hiding from patrols and surviving in extreme circumstances. He reached his shop and began to pack a bag. He had almost all the things he really liked here, in the back of his shop, because he wouldn’t put them in his quarters as he never wanted to make them feel too much like home. It seemed stupid now, it had been five years, this was his home, and yet he still hadn’t moved them there. 

He finished packing, replicated a sign that said “closed indefinitely” in Federation standard, Bajoran and Ferengi (he didn’t want to force anyone to explain it to quark and his employ). As he hung the sign on the door, he got a few confused glances, but most people just carried on with their days. With the war, everything was always crazy, and one more weird occurrence would hardly unsettle the residents of this station. Garak remembered what he had told the captain about having some goodbyes of his own. He hadn’t been lying exactly, but the only people on the station that he felt he needed to say goodbye to were Odo, Worf, Kira, and Ziyal. He was Ziyals friend, and he had been through things with Odo, Kira, and Worf that had led him to understand them more than he understood most people. He would start with Ziyal.

He made his way to Ziyal’s quarters. He knew she would be there because it was the afternoon and she always went there so she could have a few hours in the much more comfortable conditions of her quarters (Dimmer and warmer). He knew that now he was leaving he should do what he had not been able to bring himself to do before. He would explain to her that she was his friend, nothing more, and that she is too young to be infatuated with him. He thought it was a passing fancy, but her attention had persisted and it became harder and harder to tell her. Garak knew that now that he was leaving, he had an obligation too. She is smart, and honestly she definitely already knows that her attention is not reciprocated and that she should move her attention elsewhere. It was forcing this realization into her conscious mind that he was dreading. He had always had a hard time with emotional conversations, and this was no exception.

Garak reached her quarters and pressed the comm. Ziyal appeared at the door quickly after.  
“Garak! What a surprise! You never come to my quarters.” She said, and Garak immediately regretted his decision to come instead of inviting her to his shop, or the promenade. But that would have been too public, and he knew this was the best way. She gestured for him to come inside, and he obliged, turning to her to explain his presence.  
“Ziyal, I am here because I have been asked to go on a mission.” he barely got those words out before she started a barrage of questions.  
“A mission? But you’re not in Starfleet. Did you say yes? What kind of mission?”   
Garak put a hand up to silence her and continued. “I will explain it all, so please don’t interrupt. I will answer other questions you may have at the end.” Ziyal nodded, waiting. “The captain asked me to go on a mission, or more accurately to help an officer escape charges from Starfleet that the captain believes to be unfair. I believe he chose me because it would draw little suspicion on him as he could not order me to do it. I agreed to carry it out. I will not be back until the charges are dropped, which could be never. I am sure the captain will keep us updated on the legal situation, and I will still be able to talk to you over comm.”

Ziyal stared almost blankly at him. For a moment, he was worried she might pass out, but she was stronger than that. She spoke, quietly. “Why did you accept?” She asked.  
He didn’t think that would be her first question, and so he wasn't prepared to answer it. Slightly shocked, he comes up with the best answer/partial lie he can think of at that moment.  
“I have been in exile for 5 years, and even though I could technically leave the station, it would bring suspicion, which would make leaving a long process, a process I have never been willing to undergo. Now, I have a quick way out.”  
Ziyal nodded, and it seemed she believed him or at least knew to not push further.  
“You came to say goodbye,” she said. “Yes I-” He started, but she silenced him with a wave of her hand. “I know what you are going to tell me. I have known it for some time. I know I have made it awkward for you, and I apologise. I began trying to move on from my silly crush a month ago. It is no longer present, and as I think you know, it never really was. But as your friend, I wish you well, Garak.” He nodded. “And you as well, Ziyal.” He began to walk out. This had been easier than he had thought. Just as he was about to leave, Ziyal’s voice stopped him.   
“Garak, who is the officer who is wanted by Starfleet?” She asked. He had hoped she wouldn’t because revealing that might let her see just how much of a weakness Garak had in regard to that particular officer.   
“Doctor Bashir.” He replied, draining all emotion from his voice as he had been taught too, but she was nothing if not perceptive. She smiled, sadly, and all at once he knew she understood. He walked out the door, turning to watch her slowly disappear as the door closed behind him. One goodbye done, he walked off to do the others.


End file.
